Weekly Brief – 6th March 2026

The weekly brief for this week with a couple of extra stories that we didn’t cover.

Openreach tweaks FTTP expedite charges

Openreach has updated their price list ot adjust the price of FTTP Expedite. From the 1st of March, the pricing of this option, which can speed up an FTTP install, will rise from £125 to £145 one off charge ex-vat. This does represent a bit of a rise, considering that until April 2024 the fee was £100.10, when it rose to £110. The FTTP expedite charge is in addition to any other setup fees that are due for the service.

Virgin Media O2 used AI to detect over 1 billion suspected scam and spam calls

The Call Defence service used by Virgin Media O2 uses AI to analyse unknown calls in real time, and labels suspected nuisance calls before customers answer the phone, giving them a chance to reject the calls. So far, over 1 billion suspected calls have been labelled, with 70 million being labelled per month. The company says that these calls are answered 42% less often and last 89% less time than unflagged calls.

Eutelsat confirms €1.5bn refinancing plan completed

Eutelsat has confirmed that it has completed a €1.5bn equity raise to help it deploy Low Earth Orbit satellites. Eutelsat has ordered 440 next-generation OneWeb satellites from Airbus, with deliveries starting in late 2026 and launches planned roughly 2027–2029, both to replace ageing satellites and increase capacity. The network is offered mainly as a wholesale service to telecoms companies rather than being directly available to consumers like Starlink.

Vodafone and AST SpaceMobile joint company, Satellite Connect Europe, to start summer trials

Direct-to-device satellite provider Satellite Connect Europe has announced that VodafoneThree has signed a commercial agreement to launch services to customers across the UK. The company will launch live customer trials this summer, and the service will help lead to the elimination of coverage gaps in hard-to-reach remote areas.